Spots List

Niki Town

Niki Town, in the Yoichi district of the Shiribeshi region adjacent to Otaru and Yoichi (01_0020), is celebrated as 'Hokkaido's Fruit Village'. As Hokkaido's largest cherry-growing area, the town's 16+ u-pick farms welcome visitors from late June to early July to harvest rich, sweet varieties including Sato Nishiki, Napoleon and Benisayaka cherries direct from the branch. The annual 'Niki Sakuranbo (Cherry) Festival' in July is a beloved regional event. Autumn brings successive grape picking (Niagara, Delaware, Pione, Gorby and Rosario Bianco), apple and prune picking — offering a near-continuous harvest experience from spring to autumn. 'Furusato Park Furu-Niki' is a...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Koshimizu Town

Koshimizu Town, in the Shari district of the Okhotsk region, midway between the Shiretoko Peninsula and Abashiri, is home to Hokkaido's most celebrated wildflower coastline — 'Koshimizu Primeval Flower Park'. This extraordinary 8-kilometre strip of natural dunes between the Okhotsk Sea and Ramsar-listed 'Lake Tofutsu' bursts into bloom from late April through September, with around 200 species of wildflowers peaking mid-June to late July. The town's flower (Ezo Day Lily, deep orange), alongside Ezo Lily (yellow) and Rosa rugosa (pink), carpet the dune face in layers of colour against the backdrop of Mt. Sharidake and the deep-blue Okhotsk Sea. A...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Nakatombetsu Town

Nakatombetsu Town

Nakatombetsu Town, in the Soya region of Hokkaido, is a quiet mountain town of around 1,600 residents famed for its extraordinary dark skies and stargazing. Marketed as 'Amanogawa-no-Sato' (Milky Way Village), the town's remote mountain setting keeps light pollution minimal, making the Milky Way visible to the naked eye on clear summer nights. Nakatombetsu is highly regarded among astrophotographers for its pre-dawn horizons where the Milky Way arcs over the pastoral Soya landscape. 'Lake Panke', a modest 4km-perimeter wetland park with walking trails, offers skunk cabbage bloom in June, autumn foliage and a winter visit from whooper swans. The town...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Toyoura Town

Toyoura Town, in the Abuta district of the Iburi region of Hokkaido, faces the shores of Funka Bay (Uchiura Bay) adjacent to Lake Toya (01_0040) and Sobetsu (01_0092). The town is famous across Hokkaido as the birthplace of 'Toyoura Strawberries' — a beloved local brand developed over more than 80 years of cultivation research, producing large, intensely sweet-tart field-grown berries that peak from late May to July. Strawberry picking at local farms is a popular family activity for Hokkaido road-trippers on the Toya-Muroran route. 'Toyoura Strawberry Sherbet', the signature product at the Michi-no-Eki Toyoura roadside station, captures the pure flavor...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Hamatombetsu Town

Hamatombetsu Town

Hamatombetsu Town, a quiet harbor town of around 3,600 residents on the Okhotsk coast of the Soya region, is home to Hokkaido's most internationally celebrated birdwatching destination — 'Lake Kutcharo', a 13km² brackish Ramsar Convention wetland (registered 1931) that serves as one of Japan's most important staging posts for the whooper swan migration. Every spring (April–May) and autumn (October–November), thousands of whooper swans rest at Lake Kutcharo during their annual migration between Siberia and Japan. The pre-dawn spectacle of swans rising from the mist-draped lake in golden light is one of Hokkaido's most celebrated natural photography moments. The 'Hamatombetsu Kutcharo-ko...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Akaigawa Village

Akaigawa Village

Akaigawa Village, in the Yoichi district of the Shiribeshi region of Hokkaido, is a small community of around 1,100 residents formed over 1,100 years ago when a volcanic caldera collapsed, creating an extraordinarily rare bowl-shaped farming landscape enclosed on all sides by mountains. A member of the 'Most Beautiful Villages in Japan' association, Akaigawa's caldera basin floor supports potato, pumpkin and rice farming, with the Akaigawa River, pasturelands and mountain ridges combining in a landscape often called 'Hokkaido's original scenery'. The internationally celebrated 'Kiroro Snow World' ski resort, nestled in the mountains above the caldera, draws skiers and snowboarders from...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Kamifurano Town

Kamifurano Town

Kamifurano Town, in the central Sorachi region of Hokkaido, stands alongside Furano (01_0027), Nakafurano (01_0028) and Biei (01_0029) as one of Hokkaido's great flower destinations. Kamifurano holds the distinction of being the 'Birthplace of Hokkaido Lavender' — local farmers first cultivated lavender for fragrance oil here in the 1940s, long before it became Hokkaido's iconic flower. The free-admission 'Hinode Park Lavender Garden' offers sweeping views of lavender fields set against the Mt. Tokachi range backdrop. The annual 'Lavender Festa Kamifurano' in July illuminates the park at night in one of the region's most photogenic summer events. The 'Tokachidake Lavender Road'...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Esashi Town

Esashi Town (えさしちょう), on the eastern Okhotsk coast of the Soya region of Hokkaido, is nationally famous as the town with Japan's highest hairy crab (kegani) catch. The town's celebrated 'post-drift-ice hairy crabs' (esashi kegani), caught from March to May when the winter sea ice retreats, are prized for their extraordinarily dense, rich flesh — the result of crabs feeding abundantly on plankton that blooms beneath the winter ice. Known as 'the king of crabs' in Japan, these crabs are a signature delicacy of the Okhotsk region. The annual 'Esashi Kani Matsuri / Okhotsk Esashi Umaimo Festival' in July is...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Sobetsu Town

Sobetsu Town, on the southeastern shore of Lake Toya (entry 01_0040) in the Iburi region of Hokkaido, is home to one of the world's most remarkable geological phenomena — 'Showa-Shinzan', a 398-metre volcano that rose from a wheat field in just two years (1943–1945) during World War II. Designated as a National Special Natural Monument, its dramatic birth was documented in extraordinary detail by a local postmaster, Masao Mimatsu, whose hand-drawn 'Mimatsu Diagram' remains a landmark of world volcanology. Immediately adjacent, the active volcano 'Mt. Usu' (Usuzan) offers a ropeway to its 737-metre summit, where panoramic views sweep across Lake...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Kuromatsunai Town

Kuromatsunai Town

Kuromatsunai Town, in the southern part of the Shiribeshi region of Hokkaido, is known as the 'Home of the Northernmost Beech Forest' — a small, nature-rich community of around 2,700 residents. The 'Utasai Beech Forest', designated a National Natural Monument in 1927, is one of the world's northernmost natural beech forests, internationally recognized for its exceptional botanical significance. The forest presents dramatically different faces through the seasons — vivid spring greens, deep summer canopy, golden autumn foliage, and serene snow-laden winter silence — with guided walks available year-round. 'Yukino-Oka' (Michi-no-Eki Kuromatsunai) serves the town's celebrated soft-serve ice cream made from...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Kiyosato Town

Kiyosato Town, in the Shari district of the Okhotsk region of Hokkaido, is an agricultural and nature town nestled at the foot of Mt. Sharidake at the base of the Shiretoko Peninsula. The most celebrated attraction is 'Sakura Falls' — a modest 2.5-metre waterfall on the upper Shari River where, every year from June to August, cherry salmon (sakuramasu) perform their extraordinary spawning migration leaps. Visitors watch in genuine awe as fish attempt the waterfall again and again, exhausted but relentless — a deeply moving display of natural instinct. Free to visit and celebrated nationally on TV news, Sakura Falls...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Sarufutsu Village

Sarufutsu Village

Sarufutsu Village, a small fishing community of around 2,600 residents on the Sea of Okhotsk coast in the Soya region of Hokkaido, is famously known as 'Japan's Richest Village'. The secret is its extraordinary scallop industry — since a pioneering juvenile scallop release program launched in the 1970s transformed the local waters, Sarufutsu has produced some of Japan's finest scallops and per-capita incomes among the highest in the country. The scale of the village's wealth is reflected in stories of luxury homes ('scallop mansions') built by fishing families and even children receiving mini-cars as gifts. Beyond its marine heritage, 'Esanuka...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Food
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Hokkaido Ballpark F Village

Hokkaido Ballpark F Village

Kitahiroshima City, just 30 minutes by car from New Chitose Airport and close to Sapporo, is home to Hokkaido's newest and most celebrated tourist attraction — 'Hokkaido Ballpark F Village', the home of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team. At its heart is 'ES CON FIELD HOKKAIDO', a cutting-edge stadium with a retractable roof where fans can watch games from field-level seats, giving an unprecedented sense of closeness to the action. Even on non-game days, the 32-hectare F Village complex is open to visitors, offering outdoor activities, open lawns, food courts, shopping, a hotel, and even a sauna and spa...

Hokkaido
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Muroran City

Muroran City, on the Iburi peninsula of southwestern Hokkaido, is the industrial heartland of Hokkaido — a city where massive steel, chemical and oil refineries cluster on a dramatic harbor peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean. After dark, the resulting 'industrial nightscape' — designated as a Japan Night View Heritage site — is a genuinely spectacular fusion of harbor reflections and factory lights, a sight that has become increasingly celebrated on social media in recent years. 'Hakucho Bridge' (White Swan Bridge), spanning 1,380 metres as the longest suspension bridge in eastern Japan, offers dramatic day and night panoramas of Muroran...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Mashike Town

Mashike Town, in the Rumoi sub-prefecture of Hokkaido, is a small Sea of Japan port town steeped in fishing heritage and sake-brewing history. Its greatest pride is 'Amaebi' (sweet shrimp — locally called Nanban Ebi), harvested from the rich waters off Mashike's coast, and celebrated every spring at the 'Mashike Spring Flavor Festival' where freshly landed shrimp, octopus and scallops are enjoyed at local prices. 'Kunitare Sake Brewery', founded in 1882, is Hokkaido's northernmost sake brewer — its magnificent Meiji-era wooden brewery buildings are still in active use and open for free tours. The towering 'Mt. Shokanbestu (1,492 m)' is...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Rikubetsu Town

Rikubetsu Town, in the Ashoro district of eastern Hokkaido, is certified as Japan's coldest town — a small farming community of some 2,500 residents where January temperatures routinely plunge well below -30°C. Yet this extreme cold is the town's greatest pride and tourism asset. The pristine, light-pollution-free atmosphere creates extraordinary night skies, and the 'Ginga no Mori Observatory' (Galaxy Forest Observatory) houses one of Japan's largest 60-cm reflector telescopes — a mecca for stargazing enthusiasts. The winter festival 'Shibare Festival' features the legendary experience of waving a wet towel until it freezes solid in the air — a quintessentially Hokkaido...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Kamishihoro Town

Kamishihoro Town

Kamishihoro Town, in the northeastern part of the Tokachi region, is renowned as an 'area of four-season wonder'. Naitai Highland Ranch is Japan's largest public pasture — approximately 1,700 hectares (equivalent to 358 Tokyo Domes) — where herds of cattle grazing on vast green hillsides and the sweeping panorama of the Tokachi mountains create one of Hokkaido's most spectacular viewpoints. The summit facility 'Naitai Terrace' offers a breathtaking 360-degree panoramic view. Every spring (May), the 'Hokkaido Balloon Festival' fills the Tokachi sky with dozens of hot air balloons in Japan's largest such event — a truly breathtaking spectacle. 'Nukabira Gensen-kyo'...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Higashikawa Town

Higashikawa Town

Higashikawa Town, in the Kamikawa district of Hokkaido, made history in 1985 as Japan's first municipality to declare itself a 'Photo Town' — a distinctive cultural identity that blends art with the natural grandeur of the Daisetsuzan mountain range. As the gateway town to Asahidake Ropeway and the 2,291-metre summit of Asahidake, Higashikawa draws visitors seeking a seamless combination of mountain adventure, culinary tradition, and creative culture. The 'Higashikawa International Photography Festival', held every summer, is a prestigious global event that attracts photographers and enthusiasts from around the world. Uniquely, Higashikawa is Japan's only agriculture-based community without a centralized water...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Festivals & Events
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Rokkatei Art Village (Nakasatsunai Bijutsu Village)

Rokkatei Art Village (Nakasatsunai Bijutsu Village)

Rokkatei Art Village (Nakasatsunai Bijutsu Village) is a serene cultural park operated by Rokkatei, Hokkaido's beloved confectionery brand, where multiple art museums are scattered among the forest. Spread across roughly 145,000 square meters, the grounds include distinctive museums such as the Aihara Kyuichiro Museum and the Koizumi Junsaku Museum, letting visitors enjoy art while strolling through birch woods. The adjoining Rokka no Mori forest features elm trees over a century old, and this fusion of art and nature across the seasons makes it a highlight of any adult getaway to Obihiro and Tokachi.

Hokkaido
Sightseeing
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Urahoro Town

Urahoro Town sits at the eastern edge of the Tokachi region on the Pacific coast of Hokkaido — a small, nature-rich town where the wide sandy beaches of Tokachibutu meet the open Pacific Ocean. Urahoro Forest Park, selected as one of Japan's 100 Urban Parks, is a verdant park offering auto-camping, heated swimming pools, and sports facilities ideal for families. In recent years, Urahoro has attracted attention for its sturgeon (Chozame) aquaculture initiative — an effort to cultivate this once-native 'phantom fish' of the Tokachi River as a premium local food brand. Agriculture and dairy farming are also central to...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Otoineppu Village

Otoineppu Village

Otoineppu Village, a tiny community of around 600 residents in the Teshio district of northern Hokkaido, is one of the smallest municipalities in Hokkaido. Its greatest attraction is 'Otoineppu Soba' — a black buckwheat noodle made by grinding the entire buckwheat grain, outer hull and all, with stone millstones using heirloom varieties. The resulting jet-black noodle has an intense fragrance and rich depth of flavor, and was beloved by travelers as the legendary 'station soba' served at JR Otoineppu Station for generations. After a period of closure, a new craftsperson revived the tradition in 2025, making a visit here a...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Shiranuka Town

Shiranuka Town, in the Shiranuka district of eastern Hokkaido, is home to Lake Shiraltoro — a coastal brackish lake beloved as a seasonal gathering place for whooper and tundra swans during migration. The area has deep roots in Ainu culture, with many Ainu-derived place names, and the 'Shiranuka Ainu Culture Global Dissemination' initiative is actively sharing this heritage with the world. 'Michi-no-Eki Shiranuka Koitoi' roadside station, adjacent to Koitoi Fishing Port, is a favorite stop for fresh local seafood — surf clams (hokki-gai), atka mackerel (socheya karrei), and shishamo smelt among them. Conveniently located on the Dohigashi Expressway between Kushiro...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Betsukai Town

Betsukai Town, in the Nemuro Sub-prefecture of eastern Hokkaido, is home to the Notsuke Peninsula — Japan's longest sand spit at approximately 28 km, curling into the sea from the coast like a dragon's tail. Notsuke Bay, a Ramsar-registered wetland within the peninsula, shelters a rare and fragile ecosystem; the haunting forest of dead standing trees known as 'Todowara' and 'Narawara' is one of eastern Hokkaido's most surreal landscapes. In winter (January to March), Notsuke Bay freezes completely, creating the legendary 'Ice Horizon' (Koori Heisen) — an endless, white, flat expanse stretching to the horizon where ice walking tours and...

Hokkaido
Area Info
Sightseeing
Accommodation
Food
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Kottaro Wetland

Kottaro Wetland

Kottaro Wetland, within Kushiro Wetland National Park, is one of the most pristine and untouched sections of Japan's largest marshland. The observation deck reveals an endless panorama of marshland and meandering rivers stretching to the horizon, and visitors may spot red-crowned cranes (tancho), Ezo deer, and red foxes in the wild. With scenery virtually untouched by human hands, Kottaro offers some of the clearest, quietest views in the entire Kushiro Wetland — an iconic vista of eastern Hokkaido's grand nature.

Hokkaido
Sightseeing
Activities
Nature
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter